Growing Up Skyloftian
by Singkatsu
Summary: Link and Zelda attend Kukiel's First Flight ceremony. A drabble with a twist of romance.


_A/N: Hello readers~ Here's a stab at a fluffy Zelink fic that mostly focuses on their friendship. Though it was written awhile ago (I believe as a response to a challenge given by Kuneko), I just got around to posting it. I'm a wee bit slow when it comes to putting things up, apparently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and, as always, I definitely appreciate feedback!_

Link was jolted awake by a warm body plopping into his lap.

"Awake yet, sleepy head?" Link was thankful that the sun's glare was being blocked by the mop of unbraided hair atop his friend's head. The summer heat was lulling him back to sleep, and it would be rude for the sun to interrupt what had been a perfectly good afternoon nap. His eyes had just started to droop when a sharp poke to the shoulder jolted him back. "Link," Zelda whined playfully, annoyingly ruffling his hair. "We've gone over this, the sun means 'rise and shine' not 'additional snoring time.'"

Link grumbled, swatting her hands away before dumping her off his lap. "I don't snore."

"I beg to differ," she stuck her tongue out playfully before scanning the area. Everything was set up for the annual unity festival, meaning that the area before the Goddess statue was littered with stands and cooking stations of various sizes and descriptions. "You were so loud that they probably heard you all the way at Lumpy."

Opting to ignore her, Link pulled himself to his feet, arms stretching to work out the kinks in his shoulders. He would not let his best friend ruin his perfectly good afternoon nap.

And mid-day naps were the best.

"Soooo," Zelda sing-songed while pushing her way into his personal space. Link would have probably been uncomfortable if this wasn't the least problematic of his best friends' quirks. "Did you want to go to the First Flight ceremony together?"

"Of course," he yawned out, closing his eyes to avoid the pair in front of him. Honestly, he needed to get a grip. He couldn't give Zelda the satisfaction of knowing how effective her teasing was. "Who else would I want to go with?"

"So mushy," Despite the comment, Zelda pecked his cheek affectionately. "But good, that's why I woke you up anyway. It's going to start in a few minutes and I refuse to be stuck behind Parrow again; he _reeks_."

Without further aplomb, the girl began dragging the knight-in-training away from his designated shady, nap spot, not faltering as he stumbled along behind her. Their loftwings circled overhead as they made their way toward the plaza and its stone tower, cawing for attention from their distracted human companions. Link looked forlornly at his own scarlet one, as he stumbled over yet another rock that he was certain had not been there when he walked the same path this morning.

"Can you believe that Kukiel is taking her first flight already?" Maybe he could get the bird's attention and fly off without the talkative girl noticing. "Her getting a loftwing just seems…unreal. It feels like she only learned how to walk yesterday," Zelda sighed wistfully, periodically looking back at Link as they neared the bazaar tent. So much for going about it unnoticed. "Link, we're _old._ She could enter the academy next year if she wanted to. Everything is just moving too fast."

"Yeah…" He could remember his own ceremony, a day that every Skyloft child could look forward to – when they could finally take to the skies. Link's eyes drifted to look at the lips of the girl in front of him. A bottom lip being worried between her teeth – that was Zelda-speak for deep inner turmoil. He squeezed the hand wrapped up in his reassuringly. "But hey, so long as we have each other, the world can go as fast as it wants, right?"

Apparently that had been the right thing to say, if her dazzling smile was any indication.

Finally, they got to the edges of the throng that had amassed in front of the diving platform. Just able to see over the heads of those in front of him, Link glimpsed the small brown-haired girl standing nervously by the headmaster's side. She and her peers stood side by side, looking nervously at the open space around them. Ranging between five and ten, they had all held the loftwing feather that had been the sign that it was their time.

Bellowing out the usual ceremonial introductions, Gaepora droned about the harmony of human and loftwing, bonded for life in the eyes of Hylia for the benefit of Hylian kind. It was the same speech that the headmaster gave every year, and it bored Link to no end. So, he decided to devote himself to more important pursuits: waving to Kukiel and pulling silly faces to make her smile. The first day was always nerve wracking, so it was the least he could do.

Zelda pulled his hand in order to redirect his attention, pointing toward the sky.

"The loftwings-!"

And so the ceremony to bind sky partners began.


End file.
